I'm shocked at how unattractive the gays are in Boston

Post a pic of yourself OP.

We'll rate you.

I'm shocked that you're shocked.

But as R1 said, put up or shut up.

Matt Damon scared them all away!

They're all bi now, and living off their fat faghags.

They aren't as ugly as their headless lump of excrement.

That's because the attractive, masculine gays tend to be conservative and not live in the Northeast.

Undercover Greg thread!

The hets aren't so hot either. Your point?

I've never been to any major city where the gays are "uniformly" anything. Maybe in one specific place within the city (specific bar or club) but never the whole city.

How does one even see The Gays in Boston? Most of the bars have closed.

No one is shocked that OP is a simplistic, basic bitch.

Boston has people from all over the world. They can't be all fugs.

I’m from Boston and left in 2000 for NYC. Boston’s finest men from that era all moved to NYC like I did.

The gay life in Boston sort of evaporated after they closed Machine, Buddies and Fritz, and especially the demise of Sundays at Avalon and the closure of Rise after hours club. I was sad to see the Old Luxor, Napoleon’s and Sporter’s gone too, turned into condos. We were in the city recently and Club Cafe is the last, I think there were two dozen bars in my 20’s and every night of the week! Bobbie’s, Playland, 118 Merrimack, anyone else remember? Outside the city there was Fran’s, Randolph Country Club and even a gay night at the Palace. All gone.

Even little bars outside the city took a hit or became inclusive of straights or to stay in business.

The younger generations of gays don’t drink, hook up, or party like we did, especially the good looking ones!

[quote] I’m from Boston and left in 2000 for NYC. Boston’s finest men from that era all moved to NYC like I did.

Sure, Jan.

But they do have nice personalities, OP.

R7 is right. “Greg” has “arrived.”

R13 Sadly Frans is all gone. Frans was everything.

You have no idea what it was like to walk into Fran’s on 19+ nights and see some of my Stepdad’s cop buddies I grew up around there.

The students won't even look at you? Do you prefer the older, obese, uncultured yahoos found in the rest of the US?

[quote] [R7] is right. “Greg” has “arrived.”

No, R7 is not right, R16. I see you are the unintelligent person who loves using quotation marks where they don't belong.

Anyway, this is not an 'undercover Greg thread' — I have nothing to do with this thread, except to say that we are glad to be rid of R13.

[quote]I’m from Boston and left in 2000 for NYC.

And Boston has never been better !

Here, here! R20, I couldn't agree more.

What about the Harvard Gays, fresh new meat every autumn, or are they considered Cambridge Gays?

[quote]Here, here!

Where? Where?

Boston gay here and I agree, there is hardly any gay nightlife (if any at all) and the pickins sure are slim.

As mentioned earlier, I think 'gay night life' has really taken a dip over the years with social meida. The same with 'straight' social scenes.

I work with college students aged 18 - 22+. They do not go out on weekends to meet people, they don't socialize in clubs. They weren't brought up 'meeting people and socializing' - they were brought up on technology. They meet people through social apps and they drink in their dorms. You're not going to find them in clubs like you did in the 70s - 00s. Times have changed.

R23, I am so embarrassed!

Hear, hear!

[quote] Boston gay here and I agree, there is hardly any gay nightlife (if any at all) and the pickins sure are slim.

Perhaps you just don't know where to go!

R27, any suggestions then?

[Quote]I’m from Boston and left in 2000 for NYC. Boston’s finest men from that era all moved to NYC like I did.

and all those guys must have relocated to Fort Lauderdale. I was in NYC recently and was surprised at how meh most of the guys at Hush and Q in HK were as well as Chelsea the former gay meca.

Wow, R13. That was boring.

Are we having fun? Not so gay

I thought Greg was from Baltimore.

[quote] I thought Greg was from Baltimore.

What made you think that? I am from Boston.

Anyone from Boston know of a gay bar that isn’t Club Cafe that still exists?

Lol try living in flyover world where under 200 pounds is a pipe dream.

R34, Dbar, Trophy Room, Cathedral Station, Blend, Jacque’s, the Alley. Manray is back.

I’m 40 and gay and none of my friends go to gay bars. Most of us are married and we just kind of go where we like—if I were to generalize, I would say gay Boston is pretty assimilationist. People who cling to a very 20th century idea of gay nightlife don’t seem to like that but it suits the rest of us just fine.

Most gay people here just go to regular bars.

R34 Legacy, Royale, Candibar

So if you’re 37 and gay in Boston, I guess your chances of meeting someone single your own age at a bar is very slim.

Do people still meet in bars anywhere? In 2023?

But yes, R39, you’re better off meeting people through friends, a book club, a sports team, volunteering, etc. Boston is full of gay affinity groups for just about everything.

Americans like to hate on Boston for the same reason that Italians like to hate on Venice.

OP sez "I'm shocked at how unattractive the gays are in Boston. It's been a bit but here for work now"

...OP didn't mention he's here working at the Perkins School for the Blind...

[quote] So if you’re 37 and gay in Boston, I guess your chances of meeting someone single your own age at a bar is very slim.

Well, only if you have no hobbies or other interests. Gay men are everywhere. You can't meet a gay man at a regular bar? Or by joining some group or association?

I actually thought the same of Philadelphia. I was so disappointed.

In Boston, the cuties are lined up if you're on one of the commuter planes to Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket from Logan.

[Quote]Well, only if you have no hobbies or other interests. Gay men are everywhere. You can't meet a gay man at a regular bar? Or by joining some group or association?

Most of the relationships I've had were with men I met just going about my life at work or the gym and once or twice someone I hooked up with at a bar or club.

And you might see men lining up for the commuter airline (Cape Air) to Provincetown.

There are gay bars in Provincetown too, if you're in the neighborhood or fancy a 2 1/2 hour drive from Boston.

The people on this thread who are like, “Every time I roll into a new city, I hit the first gay bar I find on Yelp and then make a sweeping judgment about the fuckability of the metro population” sound 150 years old.

[quote]I work with college students aged 18 - 22+. They do not go out on weekends to meet people, they don't socialize in clubs. They weren't brought up 'meeting people and socializing' - they were brought up on technology. They meet people through social apps and they drink in their dorms. You're not going to find them in clubs like you did in the 70s - 00s. Times have changed.

What do they do for fun? They don't like to dance? Meeting through social apps is not like meeting a gang of people who are going to make you laugh or who you can make friends with. It sounds horrible, and I was never one to go to the bars all the time. I did like to have some fun, though.

Did you even bother to check scruff or grindr?

Jacques Ze Whipper is from Boston, and used to be an anchorman on WBUR, a local NPR news station.

Now he's on the Renaissance Faire Circuit

Most people in Boston are unattractive. It's an Irish thing.

I lived in Boston for two years. I found Boston guys sexy as fuck. They’re very insular and not particularly friendly to outsiders but they’re still hot

The Italian -Irish mixes are the sexiest men in the world.

Try malden.

R40 A book club? He’s 39, not 100!

I don’t know about attractiveness, but they do tend to be, well, assholes.

R36 “I would say gay Boston is pretty assimilationist”

Yeah and I don’t think that’s all by choice. I’ve said this before about Boston, you can be gay as long as you assimilate.

I find that liberalism here is more of an etiquette. Boston “tolerates” everyone. But it’s a very conservative city and area.

It’s like in the North, Salem has always had Pride flags everywhere and prided itself in being gay friendly. But if you want to BE gay, well then you’re going to have to go to the dumpiest part of Lynn and go to Frans. Just don’t do that stuff over here!

Boston is very “I don’t have a problem with gay people but I don’t want to see it.”

think that might even be a reason why Boston has no gay night life. Gays got rid of gay culture in Boston because they wanted to move up the ladder.

I’m outside of Boston and when I’m in Boston and on Grindr, there’s a lot of hot men. Outside of Boston is pretty sad but there’s a lot of travelers and visitors in the city too looking to hookup. If you open up the app when you’re in Downtown Boston, it’s pretty impressive.

R50 Yes, sadly, Jacques has officially run off and joined the circus.

r56, lol. Bingo! That's been my observation as an outsider about The Noth Shaw, having commuted to there for years to visit my long-distance partner in Lynn/Salem, from California. I'm just myself -- an obnoxious, over-sharing Californian who talks cheerfully to strangers, which makes my partner squirm with great New England discomfort. Of course, when he visits me in SF, he's dressed in lavender turtlenecks and singing show tunes to all who will listen.

Your comment about Lynn is funny. When I meet people from Boston, I tell them that my partner lives in a "not too, too shitty part of Lynn". BTW, Fran's closed last year. I think that downtown Lynn is fascinating and is ripe for gentrification, just like West Oakland was until it actually happened. But then the Tekkie Douchebros took over. Yes, Salem is full of rainbow flags, and assimilationist A-gays.

Regarding unattractive people in Boston, you can't find a single vegetable anywhere, everything is deep fried, or Buffalo this and Buffalo that. Next to every Dunkin Donuts on every corner is a hole in the wall that simply reads "Roast Beef". It's so fucking cold that you don't really see people because they're dressed tightly like Eskimos when you do see them outside. In Summer, which lasts for two weeks, you see pale, sweaty people wearing drab LL Bean.

R59 Haha! Yeah, I live on the North Shore and I can’t stand Salem.

I’m going to say after P-Town, Somerville is probably the most genuinely gay friendly city. And I mean gay friendly as in you could walk hand in hand with a boyfriend and you wouldn’t turn a head and no one would bat an eye. I think it’s what a lot of people think Salem is like but it’s really not.

Same with Boston.

I’m trying to think of the most homophobic cities in Massachusetts. Revere is definitely one of them.

People stereotype the Boston Irish people but they never go after the Italians. The Boston Italians are like New York Italians on crack

Most of the comments i this thread read as if they’re from the 1980s. Today as many people in Boston are of primarily Caribbean/West Indian descent as primarily Irish.

Can’t find a vegetable anywhere, R59? What century are you from? The town is full of homegrown fast-casual vegetarian chains like Clover, Life Allve, PlantPub, etc.

Typical delusional DL shut-ins and dinosaurs who have not engaged with humanity in decades.

r62, first things on the menu at PlantPub are "Fried Cauliflower Wings" and "Loaded Nachos". Lol.

Are you sure you saw ALL of them, OP?

Did you find that little twink jock who lives with his mom in Fenway? I thought he was kind of cute.

Okay if you want to be super fucking pedantic, R59, here’s an Eater listicle.

Can’t *imagine* why no one wants to fuck you.

R29- What we’re you doing in Hong Kong?

R59 You are in Lynn and pretending to be in Boston. It's like being in Trenton and making pronouncements about Manhattan.

Is your BF a drug dealer?

[quote]It's so fucking cold that you don't really see people because they're dressed tightly like Eskimos when you do see them outside. In Summer, which lasts for two weeks, you see pale, sweaty people wearing drab LL Bean.

This is total bullshit. Even if you're obviously exaggerating for sarcasm. Boston summers are long (over three months) and very hot in July and August, largely due to it being so humid. As a kid I went away to Maine all summer (even there, it was hot most of the long summer). You sound like you're talking about Northern Canada.

It hit 50 degrees in January, frequently. There were shirtless MIT bros running along Memorial Drive. It was nice.

I’d hardly consider anyone who goes to MIT a “bro.”

R56 [quote]Boston is very “I don’t have a problem with gay people but I don’t want to see it.”

Massachusetts was the first U.S. state to open marriage to same-sex couples in 2004. You're welcome.

A friend of mine who went to MIT was definitely a bro.

OP are you looking for seniors? The city is one fifth students, youths from all over the world.

[quote] In Summer, which lasts for two weeks, you see pale, sweaty people wearing drab LL Bean.

I have to disagree with R59. Summer lasts a lot longer than two weeks and there are many attractive people in Boston. LL Bean? I don't think so. Vineyard Vines, perhaps.

[quote] Boston is very “I don’t have a problem with gay people but I don’t want to see it.”

False.

Most people who live in Boston would never have cause to set foot in Lynn. There's an old children's rhyme about Lynn:

Lynn, Lynn the city of sin

You never come out, the way you came in

You ask for water, but they give you gin

The girls say no, yet they always give in.

If your not bad, they won’t let you in

It’s the damndest city I’ve ever lived in

Lynn, Lynn the city of sin

You never come out, the way you came in.

[quote] If your not bad, they won't let you in

Oh, dear.

R59 Fran’s didn’t close last year unless you’re living in 2017. It’s an apartment building now.

R76 There’s a fundie - I think - church downtown with a variation on that old chestnut on their signage:

“Lynn, Lynn, City of Him”

I’m guessing from the looks of the place, He hasn’t been there in years…

Nightshade Noodle Bar—a lesbian-owned French/Vietnamese tasting menu restaurant—is on this year’s James Beard semifinalist list for Outstanding Restaurant. It’s in Lynn.

[quote] “Lynn, Lynn, City of Him”

[quote]I’m guessing from the looks of the place, He hasn’t been there in years…

Who?

[quote]What do they do for fun? They don't like to dance? Meeting through social apps is not like meeting a gang of people who are going to make you laugh or who you can make friends with. It sounds horrible, and I was never one to go to the bars all the time. I did like to have some fun, though.

I'm sad to say they play 'video games' with each other in the virtual mega-verse. In their dorms, with their room-mates. That's their fun! They truly can't communicate with the opposite sex, or even the same sex, if they are interested in them. They meet through social apps and plan a 'date' to watch a movie in their dorm or apartment. With friends, they go to the gym.

I remember going to movies, going to the beach, going to dinner, going dancing, going to the mall - that's what you did on a date. Not this current generation. Occasionally, they may go to the IMAX theater to watch a 'superhero movie' in 3D. Sometimes they go bowling (that's popular right now on college campuses) with their date. That's it.

r59 here. Of course I'm being facetious and sarcastic; this is the DL, so chillax, lol. The very premise of this thread: "I'm shocked at how unattractive the gays are in Boston" is such a ridiculous overgeneralization that it was worth jumping on. And I'm obsessed with all things Boston and New England - especially the North Shore - having found myself in a serious, long-distance relationship with someone there for the past four years. I'm from SF and still live here, but visit back there about 3 times a year (partner comes out here about 4 times a year).

Love hearing stereotypes about each community (Lynn vs. Salem, Salem vs. Marblehead, etc.) and seeing them, too, and intentionally mispronouncing them ("PEE-BODY, Swamp-SCOTT") and making generalizations about brutal Winters ("Hey! WTF is up with all these DEAD trees?!" "Where's your Avocado tree?") from a West Coast perspective. Except for the Pats, ice storms, and obvious lack of fresh, local produce year-round, j'adore scenic Boston and New England, And the men, too.

Will soon be marrying someone from Boston who's quite handsome, IMHO.

OP is a bonehead. Are people really this ridiculous and/or stupid?

[quote] Will soon be marrying someone from Boston who's quite handsome, IMHO.

Damn. Cause you sound fun, I’d propose.

If things don’t work out…ya know….just sayin.

They’re not all unattractive and they can carry a tune.

Everyone in MA is one of two extremes: fat and dumpy with ugly facial features or super fit and thin with good length of bone. Average is rare. The cold weather and drinking culture there will make you fatter over time if you're not careful. The gays in MA are predominately academic bottoms. Even the tops are bottoms. Total tops are rare and highly prized. Be prepared to become verse if you want to survive. Lots of open relationships as the educated gays with money want the professional advantages of presenting as safe and traditional whilst being sex pigs behind doors. If you're into interracial, move to Minnesota. MA white gays tend to prefer each other, but will chat with attractive POCs. The hot gays that don't move to NYC, live in the richer neighborhoods of Boston and Cambridge. Also, lots of gays peacocking by name-dropping Harvard & MIT as a way of trying to attract sex of a higher status. Alas, ugly is ugly fancy degree or not. No matter the city, abs and a cute butt are king in the gay world.

This thread is proof that gay men never advance emotionally past middle school. Sad.

And R87 is proof that we still have an excess number of morons who believe that gay men on DL represent all gay men.

I defy you bitches to go to Albany NY and find 12 good looking men. I never saw so many pale,dumpy fugs in my life. The 1st time I sailed into a club there all fit and tan (Im a Floridian) I was literally swarmed . And I was there with my husband ! So many drinks were bought for me I was giving them to whoever walked by. The cutest guy in that bar (besides me and hubby) was the bartender/owner and he weighed 300 easy but was like 6'7 and carried it well. When Hubby died 3 years later I couldnt pack my bags fast enough.

R86 Is that fabulous video a sign to say that Massachusetts is as cold and contained as Montreal?

You know it! The movie was good too.

R75 True.

I posted that video to get some people off their high horse about Boston lol

R71 So what?

Gay marriage was legalized in 2004 so you’re saying homophobia in Boston disappeared?

R79 That’s near the Blue Ox too. Another amazing restaurant.

MA attracts a lot more hipster types those that get pulled into social justice scene when comes to lgbt life... outside of Pride or other major events that draw in tourists, the extremes of social politics tend to dominate the scene.. to the extent of beating up non-scene queens.

that has been split between the political extremes, where it's extended to kidnapping suspected gays and beating them near to death. . . which appears to be related to the growing alt-right supremacists there (MA is the home of several white nationalists gangs that have spread across the nation) but there have been a few cases of the same from the screeching autistic nonbinary ctrl-left trying to keep the world safe from all they deem as nazis.. which is everybody right to the far left and doesn't has the stereotypical, trademark, look of said revolutionaries.

From what I gather, Boston and other large cities are prey to extremists, but overall, PDX-lite. . . it's mostly contained within subcultures, smaller ocmmunities, from ethnic to lgbt, and subcultures; i.e. and mostly, wherever crowds of young people might be. If you avoid those scenes, you're probably alright, save for the occasional blocking of traffic... so, just keep a delayed by protest kit in your vehicle, just in case, it turns out to be a long night.

Yeah I mean a lot of Boston has transplants.

But if you’ve actually grown up in Boston in or outside the area. Look at Marky Mark and Matt Damon and their views on homosexuality. It’s similar to the Boston mentality.

Sure the transplant hipsters living in 3,500k apartments on Beacon Hill are all welcoming to all but that’s not all or most of Boston.

You must be talking about *Devin James Mason, the tall creepy bartender in Boston, such a stupid looking face, no real intelligence or common sense, and part of the Wigga criminal element there, he's trashy and unclean, very poor personal hygiene, and he's not fooling anyone with that fake choir boy routine, he's completely unattractive and a vile piece of shyt, I'm assuming that's who you're talking about, *Devin James Mason. He's just a nasty ho.

The truth is once you step outside proper Boston, you could throw a rock and hit a Trump sign there are so many.

People outside the city aren’t as young, liberal or generous. There’s an undercurrent of “I will merely tolerate you” towards the gays as long as you don’t fuck with the status quo.

I’m an elder gay at 53 and my heart broke a little bit walking through an unrecognizable South End, which I spent my 20’s living in a gay ghetto in the early 90’s and has been erased and neutered- just like Chelsea’s 8th Ave. in NYC after Google moved in.

The naughty, dangerous and sexy side of the city has been completely sanitized and monetized. Entire neighborhoods like the Combat Zone and Washington St. were razed for wealthy lofts and university housing that completely blanketed entire blocks with thousands of new residential units. Is it a good thing? I guess so.

But not as fun!

Unfortunately, Maverick Men are my only reference.

[quote]I remember going to movies, going to the beach, going to dinner, going dancing, going to the mall - that's what you did on a date. Not this current generation. Occasionally, they may go to the IMAX theater to watch a 'superhero movie' in 3D. Sometimes they go bowling (that's popular right now on college campuses) with their date. That's it.

Either on a date or with groups of friends, from when I was a teenager in Boston (drinking age was 18, you usually didn't have to show ID and could drink if you looked 18 - or even 16) until I was around 30 or older...we were always looking for stuff to do. Bars, restaurants, seeing bands at bars and clubs, concerts, movies, the drive-in, strip clubs, theater in Boston, community theater, parties, booze cruises, sports, local or professional. Discos, going to see Jim Plunkett. To be fair to kids now, things were affordable.

R100 God, I love that little bisexual Southie Tommy they’ve fucked multiple times, he’s adorable and such a hungry, hungry bottom boy. It sounds like he’s the pick of the litter of Boston boys.

“…just like Chelsea’s 8th Ave. in NYC after Google moved in.””

Boy, are you way off base as to the evolution of 8th Ave — Google has literally nothing g to do with how 8th has changed over the past 25 years.

I miss the Big Cup!

R50- He's straight, sadly. And married (happily, it seems) to a woman. Even so, he did a video a while back talking about how he was bullied in high school because people assumed he was gay. He ended up going into the circus arts because that was a safe space for him to be himself.

The kids who used to frequent gay bars have mostly aged out. They're now middle aged, or retired, too tired for all the rigamarole, and prefer to stay home. A large percentage of young people today can't pull themselves away from their computers and/or smart phones and aren't into imbibing. Then you have all the methheads. They're everywhere. They're not just lowlifes in trailer parks. Plenty work responsible jobs and immediately break out the pipe and blow clouds as soon as they get home. By bar-time they're too lost in their bliss to go out.

For “Greg”—the “best” of Boston

I live outside of Boston. Plenty of hot Brazilians and Dominicans around here, just saying…

[quote]Do you prefer the older, obese, uncultured yahoos found in the rest of the US?

That's the typical arrogance of you New Englanders, R18. That's why I hated it there when I was in grad school and why I would never live there again.

R96 You type schizophrenic.

At the height of COVID, I attended my aunt’s funeral at St. Eulalia’s in Arlington—up by the country club on the border with Winchester. Never had I ever seen so many BLM and peace/love yard & window signs…more than even here in the West Village. It gave me pause…my old childhood neighborhood had evolved!

R96 That's the meth talking. Go to bed.

R109 On behalf of all New Englanders, I thank you for staying away from here. I'm sure you're more comfortable in your home state o Alabama.

[quote] For “Greg”—the “best” of Boston

No quotation marks needed.

[quote] At the height of COVID, I attended my aunt’s funeral at St. Eulalia’s in Arlington.

Saint Eulalia Church is in Winchester, not Arlington.

It is on the town border. The parish is majority Arlington residents.

^ meal

Yes, there are lots of hot Brazilians here in Boston, but they don't want your middle aged, doughy ass and many have families they are trying to support and bring over (girlfriends with babies and the like). Many live away from the nicer, centrally located areas of Boston and Cambridge, so you'll have to be willing to travel on the Blue Line to Maverick, Airport, Suffolk Downs, Revere, etc. for your braised meat. Many work as Uber drivers, others as security guards at the big universities, etc. I've chatted up the hot ones who speak English just out of general curiosity. For me, it's too much hassle to go hunting for DL trade. Nice to look at though.

R116. It might be in the border but it is considered a Winchester parish—because—wait for it … it is in Winchester!

St. Eulalia - 50 Ridge St. Winchester, MA 01890

Hand me my Winchester, ima ridin’ to Red Rock!

Hahaha! R116 - you’ve been to Saint Eulalia more times than I’ve made a decent meal? I seriously doubt that. Does your aunt die a lot? Are you a daily communicant at Saint Eulalia? Why make ridiculous claims? I am very familiar with Saint Eulalia and with the Archdiocese of Boston and NEVER is that spoken of as an Arlington Parish. Just a fact. Thus is not a matter of opinion, R116.

Boston is not a big night life city. It's gay night life is shocking disappointing, but honestly even the straight night life isn't much.

A lot of Boston is biotech, medicine, tech. People who are a bit nerdier and more serious about their careers.

[quote] At the height of COVID, I attended my aunt’s funeral at St. Eulalia’s in Arlington.

See what you said? It makes not one bit of difference that the majority of the parish is made up of Arlington residents. It is still in Winchester. If you were to send them something in the mail, you would address the envelope with their Winchester address. That’s all.

Dummy at R124 and R126, those were tiny fringe groups that were met with tens of thousands of counter-protesters. They prove the opposite of your intended point. And this stuff is happening all over the country although, sadly, the posters on this thread do not seem very tuned in to reality in 2023.

r128 Said that it has spread cross the nation. And overall Boston is PDX-lite.

You can love your abusive daddy all you want but he's still a masshole

F&F this fucking bullying thread, please.

r130 This is as much bullying as everything that gets said about Hollywood and California.

r130 or Texas or New York or wherever there's mass pockets of ethnic groups (like irish traveller immigrants that become an unrecognizable parody of the Irish as most American groups do, often heavily relying on stereotypes and entertainment as representations or in place of cultural roots.) colliding with politics and govt, and of course, celebrity or nationwide news.)

skimming through articles and videos by transplants - they view dating in boston as meeting a lot of guys with nice personalities (read: too ugly to get a dog to lick them without wearing a meat bone) or tending to be massively cliquey and aloof to anyone not of their group.

now I can speak on some of obscure groups, like some associates that represent the latin and afro-latin population, specifically afro-cubans which last year were deemed uncle tom nazis and attempts were made to lock them out of a city meeting where representatives wanted to be on the record of being against the Cuban embargo. and thus, not being "pro-cuban" by the city standard apparently means you're alt-right regardless of your politics. It didn't really get reported outside of Spanish speaking media, though. Yes, such things are common in other large cities outside of the state, too. This concept that you must be a clear right or left, and frequently accused of being the other side when there's a dispute.

^ "pro-cuba" really rather than "pro-Cuban" as most Cubans are for the embargos.... like there's been a total retcon of what the Cuban protests were about in the American psyche... where they puffed up the cuban govt and blame it on the embargo instead.

r111, Winchester is lovely!' Arlington is a liberal bastion but needs better takeout.

East Boston is where it's at, and so is Chelsea. And Everett, though not by the new casino.

R111 👋🏼. How’s Davis Square? My mother grew up on Day Street, between the square and Mass Ave. My dad grew up on Haskell Street and then on Mass Ave.

^ that’s intended for R135

137

r111 Here - it's boomin'! Love Dakzen for Thai and Dragon for pizza, not to mention those gourmet sandwiches at Dave's. Lots of life back at the bars, too.

No one wants to have to take two or three train lines to reach the center of town: Blue to Green to Red. East Boston was fine, but it's much easier living in a nicer neighborhood that's centrally located, albeit for more money.

Davis Sq is fine if you're a bit granola and don't mind not having a train line nearby. The food is the main draw, but I wouldn't bother living there. Rent prices are cheaper as a result of no train. If you're on the Red Line and want to be centrally located then the stops to live near are Broadway, Harvard, Kendall/MIT, Central, or Porter Sq. That said, the homeless are known to congregate at Harvard, Mental, & Porter, so be ready to shoot them looks of disgust and revulsion as they beg for change like it's still the 90s.

R111

What's your opinion of Somerville (or Davis Square) for aging, retired, gay males?

DC gay men beat all

R129 What the fuck is "PDX-lite"? The Internet has never heard of it.

r111, I'd recommend Downtown Crossing or the South End.

R140 "Davis Sq is fine if you're a bit granola and don't mind not having a train line nearby."

There's a Davis Square stop on the Red Line. Is that close enough?

R133 Your writing is impenetrable.

Anything past the Broadway and Harvard Sq stops on the Red Line is too far away unless for a quick weekend visit.

r143 Not as extreme as the politics in Portland, Oregon.. one isn't likely to run into a protest of either extremes on the streets but such factions exist and people are generally safe for the most part, especially if avoiding places where misfit children loiter in high numbers. It has the consistency of "keep (city) weird" vibe that has been hijacked by transplants that generally protest the local culture in said cities. It's really heading more towards the colleges and those areas on the outskirts of suburbia, and maybe being cautious during the weekends when they flood the city.

r143 if anyone wanted to dispute the attractiveness of the locals, then they could put up pictures of Pride... though, doing best to avoid the activist population that are on par with the rest of nation for producing sexually ambiguous dough boys and girls.

*Devin James Mason is a colossal Asshole, a deadbeat dad who doesn't even support his out of wedlock kids on social services since the day they were born, a sleezy creepy bartender in the Boston area, a nasty drug pusher that contaminates a girl's drink to take advantage and screw her without consent, he's a tax cheat, a racist, a homophobe, an anti Semite, a xenophobe, a misogynist, and completely godless. *Devin James Mason can drop dead from his dirty drug involvement and abuse the past several years, but I do feel bad for his kids who are in the middle of his abusive and reckless lifestyle, thieving and making trouble for the people he claims to care about and love, the drugs are ruining him and his Brain, that's why he's so stupid in the face, he's unclean, unwashed, uncircumcised, skanky smelly cheese bastard from New Orleans with many mental, emotional and behavioral problems due to his trashy upbringing, which is still no excuse to be a massive dickhead and Wigga drug trade in Boston, he's just going to end up dead!

OP, you have created an odd thread with a foolish generalisation for a hypothesis.

Did you also create this one?

[quote] That's because the attractive, masculine gays tend to be conservative...

R6 So is this guy conservative?

The East and West Coasters like to put down 'Flyoverstan,' but there are tons of hotties in the Heartland -- a mixture of German and Scandinavian, which are who mainly settled there.

R40: I left Seattle two years ago, but as of late 2019 bars were alive and well as places to hang out. I doubt it's changed that much since they were allowed to re-open.

IF they reopened.

R129 R149 You are one crazy bitch.

Have the people here commenting so airily been to where they're talking about?

R140 says "Davis Sq is fine if you're a bit granola and don't mind not having a train line nearby."

Davis Square is the second to last stop on the MBTA Red Line before its northern terminus at Alewife. Southbound it's about 6-7 minutes to Harvard Square and 20-22 minutes to Downtown Boston.

R141 Not R111 but to answer your question, Somerville's great if you can afford it: ranked as the 7th most expensive city in the Northeast. Somerville is pro-active with senior, medical, and vets services at the city level as well as sustainability, SS income isn't taxed in MA and if you own a home and your property taxes, already discounted by 35%-plus for owner-occupants, exceed 10% of AGI, the "circuit-breaker" provision of MA tax law can result in up to an $1100 or so rebate on your MA income tax return whether you owe income tax to the state or not. Everyone has health insurance and Boston is one of the world's medical/scientific Meccas, which is good and bad. Everyone can see a doctor, so seeing yours, let alone a specialist, can take time. Cutting-edge care is the norm, though, not the exception. Per capita income is $58K annually, household income is $109,000, median age is 31. Parking is tough unless you have an off-street spot or a garage. Personal safety is excellent: the police report in the local paper runs to about 6 or 7 items a week, usually shoplifting by people who think the Saks Off-Fifth in Assembly Square is a classy place to steal from. Gay, btw, doesn't raise an eyebrow.

It's one of the densest cities in the US with about 22,000 residents per square mile and rents like Boston's: very high. A one bedroom apartment, unfurnished and unheated, starts at $2,000/mo (and won't be great at that price) and a basic one bedroom condo starts in the $500,000 range for the ones in the basement facing the parking lot. City services are very well-managed, corruption is minimal, the city is overwhelmingly Democratic, there are at least a dozen dispensaries open or opening, and with the opening of the two new Green Line routes, one to Union Square and one to Tufts in Medford, no-one in Somerville is more than about a 10 minute walk to a Green, Orange, or Red line MBTA stop. Auto traffic is horrendous (these are old cities - cars were an add-on), but bike lanes are everywhere. Handicapped access has sucked but is improving as they rebuild streets and sidewalks. Somerville's close to anything going on in Boston: Davis Square, the furthest stop from Boston, is 22 minutes to Downtown Crossing.

So: rich, safe, healthy, smart and convenient for the upside; costs a lot, crowded, and always under construction are negatives. Competitive, too: you're dealing with elites from all over the world sending their kids to Harvard, MIT, and Tufts and they probably have more money to spend than you.

[quote] East Boston is where it's at, and so is Chelsea. And Everett, though not by the new casino.

East Boston, Chelsea, Everett? Where are those places? They sound recherché!

[quote] Somerville's great if you can afford it: ranked as the 7th most expensive city in the Northeast.

That's amazing for anyone who lives in the Boston area. Somerville has changed a lot. When I was growing up and in my parents' generation, people referred to Somerville as 'Slumerville' and it was very working class. It was never considered even close to nice or desirable. That has changed.

The truest thing said was Boston is not a nightlife city. When I was young things closed earlier in the city of Boston (2am) than they did in the suburbs on Long Island (4am, some places). Of course that also made it a quieter and safer city.

(Meaning, Long Island, NY)

R153 That is why NY and LA modeling agencies used to scout Middle America for models... before they got all 'woke' in the past several years and started promoting ugly/grotesque/obese people.

LA and NY now seem to have total contempt for the Heartland.

If the contempt fits, wear it!

[quote]a mixture of German and Scandinavian, which are who mainly settled there.

I think "Flyoverstan" is bigger than just the Germanic Midwestern states.

R163 Middle America is still the hot spot for porn stars.

R141 R158 I love Somerville. I have a friend who lives there, bought a first floor apartment for $650k of a two family house. I mistakenly thought she bought the whole thing but learned that it was just the first floor. It’s charming though.

Like Greg at R160 said, the neighborhood looks like a rough working class area because it used to be but there’s very wealthy people inside all of those apartments now and it all costs a fortune to be there.

I remember visiting my friend on a Wednesday and we had to wait about 45 minutes to get into a restaurant we liked down in Davis Square.

But I love it because it’s a city that’s so full of life. If there’s a playground - there’s kids playing. If there’s a basketball court - there’s teenagers playing. If there’s a water fountain - there’s couple sitting across on the bench. People sit and read on benches. You just don’t always see that in non-major cities. In Somerville, every place everywhere is being utilized.

The homophobes and right wingers and blue collared type of people can’t afford to live in Somerville so it’s way more gay friendly than everywhere else in that area imo.

Somerville is awesome!! I love Sarma. YUM!

[quote]the neighborhood looks like a rough working class area because it used to be but there’s very wealthy people inside all of those apartments now and it all costs a fortune to be there.

[quote] The homophobes and right wingers and blue collared type of people can’t afford to live in Somerville so it’s way more gay friendly than everywhere else in that area imo.

R167 What an anti-worker post. "Thank God those blue collar people aren't around any more. Everyone is rich so it's a nice place to be."

I lived in Camberville and loved it, but moved to Cambridge proper because no trains were near my house. That's starting to change now with the newly opened Union Square station, but too little too late. As for Davis Sq, I agree, anything further than Harvard or Broadway stops on the Red Line is too far away. I see comments about how fast the commute is, but they don't mention how inclement weather, construction work, and other delays add to the time. The Red and Green lines are notorious for delays!

[Quote] I defy you bitches to go to Albany NY and find 12 good looking men. I never saw so many pale,dumpy fugs in my life.

But for some odd reason, and it’s been mentioned o. DL before, Albany area men has massive cocks. I used to drive up for work and hook up while visiting—nearly every guy had an incredible cock

I lived in Boston when I first discovered the hookup apps. I met tons of cuties—lots of college guys, of course.

R170 You live in Cambridge? If so, you don’t take the T - Harvard Square is the second stop after leaving Davis Square: it’s 5 minutes away. Broadway station is in South Boston, past downtown so about 10 stops south of Davis Square, taking a bit less than 30 minutes. You could drive the route in 30 minutes at 3 am but not otherwise.

WTF have you lived? Ever try going from Brooklyn to Manhattan on the subway?

R173 Yes, I'm in Cambridge. You wanna visit? Bring something for us to drink! I'm from NYC and have lived in multiple boroughs including Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Since I was a gayling, I've had commutes ranging from 10 minutes to over 2 hours. For me, the most important thing is to live as close to work as possible for those days when the weather sucks, you wake up late, and/or the morning commute takes forever as The Fates work against you. So many stories of all the things that have happened while on my way to work, I can't wait to retire!

City living is about convenience, so as I've gotten older and lived more centrally located, I like everything to be within a 15 minute walk/train ride or less. 20 minutes is truly my max. Anything beyond that is too far. A train delay or morning traffic can take a 30 minute commute and quickly turn it into an hour.

It's interesting how people just normalize the explosion in homeless people.

R175, it’s unnerving and sad. The US is woefully unprepared for the homeless situation and that people’s belongings cannot be secured safely outside- in tents or temporary shelters. I hear stories every day of people putting everything into storage units and trying to stay there overnight!

The Walmart near us has filled their parking lot chock full of freight containers and I drove by an open one- only to realize it’s empty. It is to avoid flocks of tents and homeless from congregating and there are mobile security trailers mounted throughout Tampa to keep the homeless from commandeering empty storefronts.

I just read so many posts on here where people say things like, "And don' t drive down that street, you'll encounter homeless people". Like it's just something one should ignore, because, reasons. Massive systemic problem that I fear people will just continue to live with and try to avoid.

Let's avoid the term "homeless people"

Wasn't homelessness a big problem in the '80s, too? There were tons of PSAs and Very Special Episodes on TV shows/sitcoms addressing the issue (e.g., Kate & Allie, Golden Girls).

bostonians are the meanest, coldest most savage cunts that the world has ever seen

[quote] bostonians are the meanest, coldest most savage cunts that the world has ever seen

We try, R180. We really try.

R169 Basically. Blue colored in Massachusetts tends to be a more religious and homophobic environment, two things I’m not interested in living around.

Yes I’d rather live with wealthy open minded liberal educated atheists. SORRY.

R180 Oh, dear.

R180 English is a difficult language to master. Your efforts are admirable.

[quote]Wasn't homelessness a big problem in the '80s, too? There were tons of PSAs and Very Special Episodes on TV shows/sitcoms addressing the issue (e.g., Kate & Allie, Golden Girls).

In the 80s there was a decline in personal income. For the first time in a hundred years (including the Depression) people's income level did not rise with productivity. There was a loss of affordable housing. There were deep cuts in welfare programs. And there was a belief that releasing patients from large institutions could be accomplished with the issuing of psychotropic meds and opening group homes (which turned out to me largely a disaster).

Most of these problems continue today living is even less affordable so that there are thousands of homeless people who are employed, for example. In Boston you never saw homeless encampments or people living under bridges, for ex., until recently, and the problem is huge on the west coast.

*to be

[quote] Blue colored in Massachusetts tends to be ...

Oh, dear!

This is a video of Somerville. Long and kind of boring but it’s very much a good depiction of what I was talking about in R167.

It’s a small but very active city. Everyone is outside.

Here’s an episode of Cops from my hometown Lynn.

Here’s another episode of Cops in my hometown Lynn.

And another!

And another!

Lynn had the first shooting on the TV show Cops.

This is the Lynnway, basically on the road to Revere which goes into Boston.

The Lynnway is ugly now but they’re going to be making it over. There’s a bunch of hideous ugly factories being demolished and they’re going to build condos and strip malls because it’s right on the watah and that real estate must be a goldmine because of it.

We get the idea. Lynn is a shithole of a place. It's nothing at all like the lovely parts of Boston like Back Bay and Beacon Hill. It is home to lots of blue collar crime.

R193 I disagree. It was bad in the 90’s.

Downtown Lynn still has its beautiful old school gothic city architecture. I think Downtown Lynn is beautiful.

And they’ve cleaned it up.

Revere is the shithole IMO. It looks like the ugliest parts of the 80’s. From the architecture to the people.

East Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Revere, Lynn – very down market places.

It's COLD and then in Winter it is really Cold. Then its' Summer for 2 months, maybe 3.

Plus they don't fucking moisturize& drink lots of water; it's Sam Adams& 20 yr old Scotch.

R195 East Boston's no longer down-market: lots and lots of new waterfront condos and rehabbing of older structures. Lots of hot Colombian and Venezuelan (among other nationalities) pinga, too.

Chelsea, Revere and Lynn are the next growth spots near Boston. If you have money to invest, they're the brightest spots for RE price appreciation locally. The MBTA Silver Line (dedicated busways, not light rail) has been extended to Chelsea, the MBTA commuter rail station in Lynn has been rehabbed, and the MBTA Blue Line trains are to be extended to Lynn and Saugus and connected to the Red Line. Better transit means better jobs and rehabbed/newbuilt housing. My sister and her husband sold a small condo in Lynn for $160,000 they bought to rent out in 2016 for $80,000. Doubling your money in four years ain't bad. Zillow says it's now worth $235,000.

And Everett, while still rough, has the new Encore Casino and all that lovely tax money that flows from it - the roads there have never looked better because Encore is paying to spruce the place up. Lots of new construction in Everett along the Revere Beach Parkway, too.

R182 Yes, the blue colored are very dangerous!

Bostonian gays: you heard the man! Be prettier for OP!

OP is probably as ugly as a bucketful of assholes.

Where’s the video from 02116? 🫣

There are no videos from 02116—one of this country's finest and most upscale postal codes.

What about Malden?

We don't know anybody in Malden, R203

Do you?

R205 Is that past Alewife station? If so, I've never heard of it.

Someone above mentioned that the hot men in Boston are the Irish-Italian mix.

I think they are onto something if Chris Evans is any indication (Italian mother, Irish father).

Forgot to mention that Chris is a Boston native, if people didn't already know.

Leafy, liberal, and loaded. YUM

Malden is adjacent to Everett, Medford, and Melrose. Back in the 40s and 50s it was home to many Italian Americans, Irish Americans, and Jewish people. These days, I believe there is a remnant of those groups in Malden, but it also has a sizable Vietnamese community. Malden is very close to Boston which makes it a somewhat desirable place. Back when I was a young child, Malden square had a Jordan Marsh.

I'm shocked at your shallow comment OP.

Wonder what the fine folks of Boston thought of you when you made your appearance in their fair city wearing your finest silk caftan and multiple strands of freshwater pearls?

Yeah, the OP is obviously a douche and we are happy that he wants nothing to do with Boston. Though I'd welcome the chance to kick his ass.

Er, B. Ross was a Philly girl…she knew Jack shit about Boston

We—the white folk, anyway—do tend to look pasty, I’ll give you that.

R213 Speak for yourself.

The title of this thread always cracks me up!

[quote]We get the idea. Lynn is a shithole of a place. It's nothing at all like the lovely parts of Boston like Back Bay and Beacon Hill. It is home to lots of blue collar crime.

R193 Beacon Hill is in Boston.

Lynn is a city 13-14 miles north of Boston, on the North Shore. Just south of Swampscott, Marblehead, Salem, Beverly, Manchester-By-The Sea, and Gloucester.

Look at the map

The Boston gays may be ugly, but the Boston straights are hot.

R218 Matt Damon hot.

When I was a teenager, my aunt Rosemary owned over 100 triple deckers in Revere as well as a large supermarket on Shirley Ave. I worked as a cashier on the weekend and really regret not getting into real estate with her. It was the first time I saw a drag queen when she showed up to buy a pack of cigs with stubble in the morning. Revere Beach had all sorts of gay cruising and “Are you intrigued by gay lifestyle?” men that would dabble… some of the Italian men were the hottest I’ve ever met! Brazilian too.

She had a staff of 12 Vietnamese men and women that would cook these wonderful stews and rice all day, and all that real estate portfolio if left intact would be worth tens of millions of dollars today. She died suddenly of cancer- four months from diagnosis, had never bothered to get a screening. The properties were all mortgaged to the hilt like a pile of cards, her children fought viciously for control, and their payout was pennies on the dollar after a prolonged squabble. The only ones that made money were all the lawyers.

Flying out to BOS soon to see my future husbear who lives in Lynn, to celebrate his 65th. He and his huge French Canadian Catholic family are all from Salem (OMFG, the accents -- really gotta listen carefully and just smile and nod often), but Lynn is where he could afford to buy a condo, and it's been a great investment for him. Visiting Boston, the Nawth Shawr, and VT/NH/ME a dozen times over the past four years has been a real eye opener for this native Northern Californian. The area -- even Lynn -- and the people have grown on me. But not the local cuisine, as I mentioned upthread to great controversy. We'll definitely retire to my place in SF, but hope to keep the Lynn condo somehow ("Well, we DO Summah in Lynn every yeahh... and go antiquing at The Dollah Tree next to Methadone Clinique"... is what I'll say at cocktail pahties).

Taking him for his BDay to the Nightshade Noodle Bar in Downtown Lynn. The Lezzbeen Chef/owner just won a James Beard Award and was featured on NPR a few days ago. Lynn. Who knew?! I'll bet she'll open an outpost in Berkeley or on Valencia St in SF soon.

Recently heard a joke: God invented Swampscott to keep Marblehead away from Lynn.

Just watched "Manchester By The Sea" with Casey Afflec to get myself in the mood for visiting The North Shore. Wow. Nails it. Has nothing to do with that actual posh town with their private beaches and front yard polo fields, and everything to do with blue collar towns and townies where it was filmed, including, Lynn, Gloucester, Beverly, Essex, Salem... the Winter scenery is stunning and also grim.

r188, Davis Square in Somerville is the most lively part of the Boston area I've yet to see. Partner took me to see the Slutcracker at a theater there one Winter (pre-COVID) after we had dinner at The Five Horses Tavern at 10:52 (or 11:52?) in the video. Get the Shakshuka!! Even in freezing weather, people were out and about, bars and restaurants were crowded. Seemed very upscale but not pretentious to me.

While the premise of this thread is stupid, great discussion about the Boston area. Had I not met someone who lives there, I'd have continued to think of Massholes as the most loud, obnoxious, pale people who ever moved to California.

Lifelong Bostonian here. When I was growing up in Boston and going out to the gay clubs I was amazed at how many good looking gay guys there were in the city. This would have been mid-nineties. I am not sure they've gotten uglier (still a lot of cuties at my city-based gym) but they just don't seem to have anywhere to go. I suspect they're all using the apps to shuttle between their apartments, which they never leave.

R221 I have no idea what you and your boyfriend are into, but in the winter Boston is a great place for museums, the Gardner, MFA, Museum Of Science, Museum of Contermprary Art, the Harvard museums, the JFK Library. And it's been a mild winter. I happen to live adjacent tp the N. Shore and though it's a popular vacation area for some New Yorkers (Rockport, Gloucester, Marblehead), it's only one area- and not really a favorite of mine. I go to Nahant beach a lot in the summer, because it's close. And Stage Fort Park, in Marblehead.

I don't know if you and your boyfriend have checked out the Cape and the Islands - or Plum Island/Newburyport (great area), the NH coast, or the Maine Coast (beautiful), or the lakes, or mountains. Worth it. Ditto Newport, RI and the RI beaches.

Nightshade is awesome! I just went!!

r221, thanks for the suggestions - especially museums in Boston. Love the PEM in Salem.

Funny, the bf spent 4 weeks with me in SF in Dec-Jan in which we had daily, torrential rains and flooding, while it's been mild back there.

Love Newburyport, Gloucester, Portsmouth, and Ogunquit. Such quaint, olden-timey, New Englandy fishing villages. And, "New Hampshire boasts some thirteen miles of coastline"! We drove all over NH and VT the past two Autumns (on the Kank) through the "Mountains" -- which look like cute little hills to me. Spectacular colors and scenery. Anything under 5,000 feet is a hill. Tried to go to Newport, RI a few Summers ago, but a hurricane or something came up from Florida. I once rejected a rental car in Boston because it had Florida plates and waited for another one. The manager gave me a 10% discount for that. It still kills me how it rains there in Summer, and everything is all green and lush and sweaty. That's not normal. Also, that your Sun RISES over the water in the morning is simply creepy. Our sun rises over the Oakland Hills and SETS over the ocean -- just as it should.

The bf wouldn't take me out to "snobby Nahant," a long spit of land that I often see from the plane, because it's all private parking and private beaches and they need to keep us trash from Lynn out.

But my #1 objective this trip will be finally a pilgrimage to Kowloon Restaurant in Saugus, MA, for "Chinese Cuisine" (includes Sushi, Pho, Pad Thai, and Chop Suey, probably pizza with pineapple, with a Mai Tai poured into a Conch shell, served by "real Orientals"). It's just SO wrong on so many levels. Don't even get me stahted about "Mexican" food in New England. I'll stick with the lobstah and the chowdah, thank you.

r224, tell me what you got! We're thinking of doing the 7-course tasting menu with "beverage pairings". Not sure of the cost.

Chicago guys are pretty.

Midwestern guys are generally pretty.

[quote]The bf wouldn't take me out to "snobby Nahant," a long spit of land that I often see from the plane, because it's all private parking and private beaches and they need to keep us trash from Lynn out.

Nahant has several town beaches but mainly there's a 4 mile public DCR beach. Between Lynn and Nahant. That's what the long spit of land is. It's well kept with nice white sand. At the end of that land is Nahant. The Kowloon! I haven't really been there for about 40 years. I don't remember the food, just the drinks. I live down the highway from there. It's also nice to go to Concord, where the wooden bridge is, where the revolution started, and Walden Pond and the Alcott house, if you're into it.

They may be ugly, but they can whip you up a delicious cod poached with prunes like you've never tasted before while they regale you with fascinating stories about all the real estate they own.

Kennebunkport Maine oozes charm. And sex.

r229, yay! You're old like we are. Did you grow up there? The bf just lectured me via Zoom about how his father wouldn't take them to Nahant Beach anymore in the 1960's because they stahted to chahdge for pahkin. So, they'd go to Revere Beach instead (not even going to attempt to mimic how he pronounces "Revere" -- just add 17 extra vowels and three unnecessary 'R's'), which is an apparently super extra bonus white trash community. In N. CA, our equivalent is the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.

Further off-topic question: how do you deal with snow and driving? My fiance has to shovel out. He's a walking heart attack and can't deal with that anymore. A few years ago, I got his younger condo complex neighbors' phone numbers - in exchange for California weed - to Zelle them some money to shovel the snow out from around his car so that he can drive to his Mahkit Bahskit. He carries a bag of kitty litter in his trunk in case he needs traction. WTF?! I can't live like that. BTW, New Englanders might be reserved, but they're the most direct, in-your-face, honest, funny, sarcastic, generous once you get to know them people I've ever met. However, would rather deal with 40 million undermedicated Californians who shit on their own sidewalks, rather than deal with this snow and ice phenomena that you have back East.

[quote]Further off-topic question: how do you deal with snow and driving? My fiance has to shovel out.

I live in a condo, we have a company that plows us out. With one of these. And shovels our walkways. The thing is, you have to look out the window all day waiting for them to come, then move your car real quick.

I think parking was free at Nahant until maybe the 80s? Than for a long time it was 2 dollars, then 3, now it's 10, I think (I bought a pass so I'm not sure). A senior pass for all DCR parks and beaches in MA is 10 bucks, if you're over 62. It's a lifetime pass (I'm 64).

Yes, I grew up here. Nahant beach was getting kind of rundown until about 10 or 15 years ago, now it's very nice, very well kept up, and they reduced the number of parking spaces so it's less crowded. Your fiance's dad sounds like a cheapskate if he drove all the way over to Revere to avoid paying a couple of bucks to park in Nahant. Haha.

I guess you just deal with snow, there's a lot of it all over the US. I don't have the kitty litter, maybe I should. Most of the time snow isn't a huge problem since if it's too bad you usually get sent home or get the day off. I like Northern California a lot.

The Boston accent on men drives me wild.

I love hairy chested men and Boston, with its plethora of Irish and Italian men seems to have more hairy chested guys than other cities

[Quote] Chicago guys are pretty.

I second that and they all seem so nice.

[quote] They may be ugly, but they can whip you up a delicious cod poached with prunes like you've never tasted before while they regale you with fascinating stories about all the real estate they own.

That’s right, R230. I can make a delicious and beautifully plated dish of cod with tomato sauce and prunes. I only own real estate in Boston and the Cape, so I’ll have to regale you with other stories as well.

I like Boston for its Dominicans and Brazilians

R238 It's the third largest Haitian community after Miami and NYC.

There are still hot guys in New York but not nearly as many as there were during the 80s and 90s when big cities were gay meccas. The demographic of the west Village, Chelsea and the UWS have changed considerably and even in HK which has the greatest concentration of gay bars and clubs.

I find that difficult to believe given the number of university student there.